The Mysterious Blonde (Sanosuke Sagara) Pt. 25

It's been three days since Ume left the Kamyia Dojo.....
"Three days of constant traveling....." Ume groaned. Once again, she sat in the carraige next to Sanosuke who snore loudly. Herve sat across from them reading a book. He glanced up at Ume.
"Qu'est-ce que-"
"Trois jours de voyage constante," Ume repeated in french. For three days she would have to say everything twice;once in french and then again in japanese. Herve and Sanosuke had also gotten into plenty of fights. Ume sighed and glanced out the window.
"Herve, we've reached Kanazawa," the driver said. (Ds: They're still speaking in French, I'm just to lazy to translate) Herve nodded as the carraige slowed down to a stop. Ume nudged Sanosuke how jerked.
"I'm awake! What's wrong!?" he gasped. Ume sighed.
"We've reached kanazawa, Sano-san," Ume said. Sanosuke yawned and rubbed his eye.
"Okay....just give me five more minuets..." he mumbled, closing his eyes again. Ume hit him over the head.
"We don't have five more minuets! Get out!" she hissed. Sanosuke grumbled and got out of the carraige. Herve pulled Ume's things out of the carraige and turned to the bay.
"Notre bateau doit être quelque part par ici..." Herve mumbled. ("Our boat should be around here somewhere...")
"Ah! Là, il est, à droite là-bas!" Herve gasped. ("Ah! There it is, right over there!") Ume nudged Sanosuke again and began to follow Herve to a boat. It was large and very fancy. It had a large deck with a wooden overhang.The overhangwas held up by a beautiful metal railing. There was a plank lowered from the boat to the dock.
"Venez maintenant, nous avons peu de temps, que nous ne devrions pas attendre!" Herve said turning to Ume and Sanosuke. Before Sanosuke could say anything, Ume repated.
"Come now, we have limited time, so we must not wait!" Sanosuke nodded and followed Herve to the boat. Everyone walked onto the deck and looked around.
"Bonjour Herve! Ah, je vois que vous avez invités a cette fois!" ("Hello Herve! Ah, I see you've brought some guests with you!") Awoman said walking up to them. She was a tall woman with long brown hair that was tightly pulled up into a bun. She was dressed in a long dress that wrapped itself tightly around her body. The dress reached all the way to the floor and even dragged a bit. It was the color of a deep purple and had gold buttons down the cest. On top of her head wasa small hat that seemed to stay on her head no matter what. She had big blue eyes and long eye lashes.
"Ume! Cher, il a été à la mesure de long! Je suis heureux que vous êtes arrivés sûr!" ("Ume! Dear, it's been far to long! I'm glad you've arrived safetly!") The woman said going up to Ume and hugging her tightly.
"Chantal Bonjour, je suis heureux de voir que vous êtes bien." ("Hello Chantal, I'm glad to see that you're well.") Ume said. Sansouke just stood behind Herve and Ume as they chatted back and forth in French. He felt a little uncomfortable just standing there. What was he supposed to do? He didn't know the language! Ume then turned to Sanosuke and looked up at him.
"Sano-san, this is my good friend Chantal. She's the owner of this boat," Ume said. Chantal looked passed Ume and Herve and looked at Sanosuke.
"Bonjour. Je suis Chantal....ne vous arrive d'être seul..." ("Hello there. I'm Chantal...do you happen to be single...?") Chantal asked Sanosuke. He just stared at her with a bored look. Ume blushed a light pink.
"Chantal, ne commencez pas frapper sur les hommes vous ne pouvez pas savoir." ("Chantal, don't start hitting on men you don't even know.") Ume stated. Chantal looked down at her.
"Oh! Je ne savais pas qu'il était votre homme, Ume. Vous devez toujours choisir la bonne!" ("Oh! I didn't know he was your man, Ume. You always pick the good ones!") Chantal said. Ume blushed again.
"Il suffit de nous en France!" ("Just take us to France!") Ume snapped, grabbing Sanosuke's arm and pulling him further onto the deck. Sanosuke glanced down at Ume.
"What's going on? I didn't understand any of that," Sanosuke stated. Ume sighed.
"Chantal just has a bad sence of humour, don't worry about it Sano-san." Ume sighed. Herve and Chantal chatted in french as they made they're way to the wheel. Ume found the door to the inside and opened it. Inside was a large lobby that was elegantly decortated with expensive looking furniature. Ume let go of Sanosuke and walked over to a velvet chair. She sat down and sighed.
"Man! I'm so tired! What I wouldn't give for a futon right now," Ume muttered. Sanosuke walked over and sat down on a chair across from Ume.
"This is all starting to hurt my head. I can't understand and word anyone is saying..." he mumbled. Ume looked at him, putting her hands behind her head.
"Well, then you should learn some French! It won't be that hard," Ume said. Sansouke rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair.
"But I don't want to learn from Bushy-Brows. And that Chantal woman was giving me a funny look out on the deck," Sanosuke said. Ume sighed.
"I could teach you Sano-san. It'll be waaay easier than Herve teaching you. For one, I know both languages, Herve hardly knows any Japanese," Ume said. Sanosuke thought for a moment.
"All right, I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn come of this crazy language," Sanosuke said.
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Two days passed by on the boat as they crossed the Sea of Japan. Ume had taught Sanosuke the alphabet and the numbers up to 20. Ume had to admit that Sanosuke wasn't the most brightest person in the world, but he seemed determined to learn french. There were two rooms on the boat, one for Ume and Chantal, and the other for Herve and Sanosuke. Though, in the middle of the night, Chantal and Ume were awoken by loud shouting. A few moments later, there was a knock on their door. Ume had gotten up and noticed it was Sanosuke.
"I was kicked out...in French..." Sanosuke had mumbled. Of course, Chantal had commented that he could share the room with her, but Ume woulnd't have any of it.
"Je sais Sano-san mieux que vous le faites, il a besoin pour rester avec moi," Ume had told Chantal. ("I know Sano-san better than you do, so he needs to stay with me,") Chantal, with a few more dirty remarks, gathered her things and moved in with Herve. For the next two nights, Sanosuke shared a room with Ume.
On the third morning, Chantal pulled the boat into a bay, somewhere in Korea. Herve, Ume, and Sanosuke left the boat and Chantal and got onto another carraige. It seemed to looked exactly like the one they had taken in Japan.
"My mom knew people," Ume would say. She would then have to repeate it in french for Herve to understand. Herve and Ume chatted most of the time, for Sanosuke slept through everything.
"You know, Ume, when I first saw you in...." Herve motioned to Ume's clothes.
"When I saw you in....that.....I almost didn't recognize you. Speaking of which, I took the liberty of using some of my own money and buying you some new clothes in Paris. I figured you had grown a little while you were away and...." Herve glanced at Ume and then smiled.
"But I guess I was wrong!" he said. This got hima hit over the head.
"So, off the subject, but aren't you wondering how your friends are in Paris?" Herve asked. Ume sighed and looked down at the floor.
"What are you talking about, Herve? I had no friends in Paris. I was too busy with my violin, piano, and fencing practices. Plus, all of the boys flocked to me, of course none of the girls like me. AND I snuck out at night to get into street fights. I wasn't the "perfect woman" everyone thought I was," Ume sighed.
"The boys were stupid to follow me and the girls were smart to stay away," Ume muttered. Herve sighed and glanced at Sanosuke.
"I know that I can't understand him very well, but I know that he cares about you alot. All of your friends back in Japan seem to care about you too. Why did you accept them and not the people in Paris?" Herve asked. Ume thought for a moment.
"Well, my friends in Japan didn't judge me like everyone in Paris did...." Ume said. Sanosuke then snorted and slowly opened his eyes.
"What? Did...did someone say food?" Sanosuke asked. Ume chuckled.
"No Sano-san, go back to sleep," Ume said in Japanese. Sanosuke slowly nodded and closed his eyes again.
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Two weeks of constant traveling slowly rolled by. Since Herve didn't have any forien money, everyone just camped in the carraige. Ume and Sanosuke were sleeping around noon when the driver called.
"Herve, we've arrived in Paris," Herve jumped and looked out of the window.
"Ume! Ume!" Herve said, waving his hand to her. Ume opened her eyes and looked over at Herve.
"Pourquoi êtes-vous crier?" ("Why are you yelling?") Ume mumbled. Herve smiled and pointed to the window.
"Nous avons arrivés à Paris!" ("We've arrived in Paris!") Herve gasped. Ume jumped and quickly looked out the window, kicking Sanosuke in the leg.
"Nous avons? Qui a été plus rapide que je ne le pensais!" ("We have? That was faster than I thought!") Ume said. Sanosuke awoke and glared at Ume.
"Hey! What's the big deal!?" Sanosuke snapped. Ume turned to him.
"We've arrived in Paris!" Ume repeated. Sanosuke raised his eye brows and looked out of the window. Everything was totally different to Sanosuke. There were no dojo's, no katanas, no kimonos, nothing of the Japanese sort. All of the men had fine mustaches, slicked back hair, and nice suits on. All of the women had fancy hats and very long dresses and all of their hair was pulled up into a tight bun. To Sanosuke, everyone looked the same.
"This....is Paris?" Sanosuke asked.
"It's like a whole other world!" he gasped. Ume nodded.
"It is different. Very different," Ume said, almost sadly. The carraige pulled to a stop and the driver got down and opened up the door. He bowed his head slightly as Ume, Herve, and Sanosuke stepped out of the carraige.
"Bienvenue à la maison, Ume," ("Welcome home, Ume.") Herve said. Ume and Sanosuke stood infront of a huge french mansion. Ume smiled at the huge house.
"It's just like a remember it," Ume said. Sanosuke swallowed hard.
"this....this is your house!?" he hissed. Ume nodded and turned to Herve.
"Je vais donner Sano-san et visite de la maison, okay Herve?" ("I'm going to give Sano-san a tour of the house, okay Herve?") Ume said. Herve nodded.
"Bien. Nous pouvons lui donner une tournée ensemble de la France d'aujourd'hui. Mais demain, nous avons entreprises à prendre en charge." ("Good. We can give him a whole tour of France today. But tomorrow we have business to take care of.") Herve said. Ume nodded and pulled Sanosuke into the house. She led him through many rooms, telling him stories of her past and of her mother. When they arrived into the dining room, Ume continued to smile.
"And this is the dinning room," Ume said quickly. She then turned around and walked out. Sanosuke just stood there, looking at everything. There was a large oak table with velvet dinning chairs. The walls were decorated with paintings and self portraits.
So this is where Clarabelle was killed...Sanosuke thought to himself.
"Sano-san! Herve and I want to show you around Paris!" Ume called. Sanosuke turned and left the dinning room. He stepped out and almost crashed into Herve.
"Oh, Bushy-Brows," Sanosuke said. Herve leaned in close to Sanosuke's face.
"There is one thingI must ask you to do for me," Herve said in his bad Japanese. Sanosuke nodded.
"Please don't speak of Clarabelle infront of Ume. I'm afriad she might break down. that is the last thing we need right now," Herve said. Sanosuke nodded and walked passed him.
"Bon, je vais essayer de tenir cette promesse," ("Alright, I'll try to keep that promise,") Sanosuke said in his bad french. Herve gasped.
"Vous savez française? Depuis quand?" ("You know French? Since when?") Herve asked. Sanosuke paused for a moment.
"Juste un peu, Ume enseigne-moi." ("Just a little, Ume is teaching me,") Ume ran up to the men.
"C'mon! I thought we were going to go look around!" Ume said. Herve gave her a confused look.
"Come on! Je pensais que nous allions aller regarder autour!" Ume repeated. She turned to the door but Herve grabbed her shoulder.
"Pas si vite, Ume. Vous et votre ami nécessité d'obtenir en quelques vêtements." ("Not so fast, Ume. You and your friend need to get into some proper clothing,") Herve said. Ume frowned.
"Beau!" Ume snapped. She grabbed Sanosuke's arm and pulled him upstairs.
"What's going on Ume?" Sanosuke asked.
"Herve wants us to "dress in proper clothing". That means you're going to have to wear a suit like Herves," Ume said. Sanosuke glared down at Ume.
"I'm not going to wear something like that!" he snapped. Ume sighed and led him to a room.
"Please Sano-san. It will only be for a few days," Ume said. Sanosuke refused to go into the room.
"I am not going to-"
"Sano-san, I changed for Japan, now you need to change for France," Ume snapped. Sanosuke was taken aback. Ume glared at him for jsut a moment longer and went off intothe room across from his. Sanosuke stood there looking at the door that Ume had just walked through.
"Geeze, Sano-san is so stubborn...." Ume mumbled. She looked around the room she had entered. It was her old room.
"It's just the way I left it...." Ume mumbled. She walked over to the giant bed with the canopy and noticed there was a faded blue dress laying there.
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"I forgot how much you can't breathe in these things," Ume mumbled, looking at herself in the mirror. She wore a tight faded blue jaket with puffy sleaves and a white blouse under it. At her neck was a faded blue bow that held together her collar. Ume also wore a long tight skirt that wrapped itself around Ume's legs. She mangaed to find a pair of her old high heeled shoes and put them on. She noticed that her left hand was still bandaged from a long time ago. She unwrapped her hand and noticed it was almost all of the way healed.
"I should just put on some gloves," Ume said, getting into a dresser and pulling out some white gloves.
"Ume, Mai-je entrer?" ("Ume, May I come in?") Ume heard a woman say.
"Venez po," ("Come in,") A short woman dressed in a simple maid outfit walked in. Ume gasped.
"there are still maids in the house?" Ume asked. (She's still talking in French) The maid nodded.
"Yes, we all stayed and looked after the house while you were away," the maid said. Ume nodded.
"I'm here to do your hair," the maid said. Ume shrugged her shoulders. The maid had Ume sit at her large vanity. The maid pulled Ume's ribbon out of her hair and gasped.
"What happened to your hair, darling? It's shorter on the top than it is in the back!" the maid gasped. Ume sighed.
"Yes, Kaito swung a sword at my head and cut my hair at a weird angle. He missed my skull by an inch," Ume explained. the maid nodded her head and began to brush Ume's hair. The maid gathered all of Ume's hair and pulled it back into a low bun. She then brought up Ume's bangs and pinned them to the top of her head. After, she pinned a large hat with flowers and a big black ribbon on her head, to prevent it from falling off.
"There! You're done!" the maid said. Ume thanked her and stepped out of the room, followed by the maid with her arms full of Ume's old clothes and bandages. Just as Ume stepped out of her room, Sanosuke stepped out of his room. Ume stared as she noticed that Sanosuke was dressed just like Herve (Save for the glasses and slicked back hair). He nervously tugged at the trench coat that he wore. He looked up and just noticed Ume standing infront of him.
"Ume...you're..." he gasped. Both Ume and Sanosuke stared at each other. Herve stepped out of the room behind Sanosuke and saw Ume.
"Ume, vous cherchez merveilleux! J'ai dû aider votre ami s'habiller, comment fonctionne-t-il chercher?" ("Ume, you look wonderful! I had to help him get dressed, how does he look?") Herve asked. Ume just stared at him.
"Sano-san...." she mumbled. Herve walked over to the maid and whipsered soemthing. The maid nodded and they went down stairs, leaving Sanosuke and Ume alone.
"Um...well....you-you look nice," Sanosuke studdered. Ume smiled at him, blushing slightly.
"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself," she said. They both stood there, averting each other's eyes.
"Ume! Nous sommes de partir!" ("Ume! We're leaving!") Herve called from downstairs. Ume jumped and glanced at the stairs.
"We're leaving..." Ume said, walking passed Sanosuke. He nodded and followed her downstairs.
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(Ds: Okay, to make my life a whole lot easier, and to make your reading easier, I'm going to stop doing the French translations for now. For now, Sanosuke magically knows what everyone is saying and he can now speak French! :D )
Outside, Ume, Herve, and Sanosuke began to walk towards town. Herve began to talk non stop about how wonderful Paris was and how great it was that Ume was back. Ume seemed to be having trouble walking in her heels and the tight dress.
"This feels funny..." Sanosuke mumbled. Ume glanced at him.
"It's just the way things are in Paris. You need to dress how everyone else does or you can't fit in," Ume said shrugging. Sanosuke sighed.
"That's stupid. They should accept you for who you are, not what you do or how you dress," he mumbled. Ume sighed and looked down at the ground.
"Yeah, it is her!"
"Hey! Hey Ume!" Ume looked up and noticed two girls walking over to her.
"Ume, it's been a long time. What happened to you?" one girl asked. She had a a dress similar to Ume's but it was pink, and the other girl had a green dress. Both girls had blue eyes and brown hair.
"Oh, I left for Japan a while back," Ume said. The girl in the green dress put her hands on her hips.
"Well, we thought you had died. Oh well, I guess we were wrong....unfortunatly." the girls then started to laugh.
"Hey! You can't-" Ume put her hand up and stopped Sanosuke from attacking the girls.
"Haha, yeah. That's funny," Ume said, putting on a fake smile. The girls glared at her.
"Why did you come back anyway?" the girl in the green asked. Ume opened her mouth to speak, but she was inturupted.
"Did you come back to steal the hearts of all of the boys again? Great! It'll be like old times again, all of the boys constantly talking about Ume!"
"Yeah, like she was actually great or something," the girls started laughing again. Ume sighed and started to walk passed the girls.
"I'm sorry, but I have more important things to do than talk to little girls. Good bye," Ume said bluntly. The girls glared at her.
"Still as rude as ever!" the girl in the green snorted. Sanosuke looked down at Ume.
"Why did you let those girls walk all over you?" he whispered. Ume smiled.
"Because, those girls used to come to violin practice with me. They just tease me because they know I'm better than them!" Ume said loudly. The girls turned and glared back at Ume, but she was still walking away.
"Don't worry about it, Sano-san. This happened all of the time when I lived here. Herve and my mom were the only ones I could trust here in France, so when Mom died I had to go to Japan," Ume explained. Sanosuke nodded and continued walking around. People stopped and stared at Ume and Sanosuke. There were two reasons for this; one: Ume had come back after a while away in Japan, and two: Sanosuke might've been dressed like everyone else, but he continued to wear his red headband and his hair was still the same. It wasn't slicked down like everyone elses.
"Ume!" Ume looked up again, this time, it was three boys that approached her.
"Ume, is it really you?"
"I can't believe it! You're back!"
"Yeah, you just dissapeared all of a sudden, what happened!?"
"Well, I went to Japan for a while," Ume said, smiling. The boys all looked at each other and then back at Ume.
"We've really missed you," one boy said. The other's nodded their heads. Ume sighed.
"It's good to know that someone missed me," she said. The boys all blushed.
"Bari!"
"Chance!"
"Fabron!" All three boys turned around and noticed three girls walking up to them.
"What do you think you're doing, running off like that!?"
"Who is this!? UME!? C'mon Bari, you shouldn't be near her!" the two girls took their boys and left, but the last girl got right in Ume's face.
"You stay away from our boys, Ume, or I'll have my father's men come after you!" the girl hissed. Ume only smiled kindly at the girl.
"Ah, but it wasn't me who approached them. They all came running to me. So I would suggest keeping a leash on them or something, maybe then they'll stay away from me," the girl glared at Ume for a long time.
"Let's go!" the girl huffed, grabbing the last boy's hand and dragging him away. Ume then raised a hand to her mouth.
"And I can take all of your Daddy's men! Send them over some time for dinner!" she called. The girls turned and glared at her again, but Ume had continued walking.
"Ume, why do you put up with this crap!? Why don't you just beat 'em up!?" Sanosuke asked. Ume shrugged.
"Sano-san, this isn't like Japan where I can beat up anyone I want. In Paris, you are supposed to be a civilized person who is uptight and fine....although, many people here would never be able to survive in Japan," Ume chuckled to herself.
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While the trio walked aorund town, many different people came up to Ume. All of the women insulted her and all of the men complimented her. Although all of the boys were scared off by Sanosuke. Finally, aftera long day of touring around, Ume, Sanosuke, and Herve began to walk back home.
"We have plenty of rooms for you to sleep in, Sano-san," Ume said. Herve nudged Ume.
"Ume, there is someone at the door," he said, pointing to the house. Ume looked up at her home and noticed there was a short man standing at Ume's door. He had a large boquet of flowers in his hand.
"Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?" Herve asked. The man turned around and noticed the three people standing behind him.
"Ume! Darling! It's been too long!" the man said, walking down the stairs over to Ume. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Algernon, I thought you went to Germany," Ume stated. The man was only two inches taller than Ume, with brown hair slicked to the side and a small mustache. He smiled at Ume.
"You are right, Ume! I went to Germany, but once I heard of your arrival in Paris I had to come back! I've missed you some much, my love!" Algernon said. He went to embrace Ume, but Sanosuke lifted up his foot and put it on Algernon's head, stopping him from getting close to Ume. (In France, this would be crazy, but Sano did this all of the time in Japan) Algernon glared at Sansouke.
"Do you know this guy, Ume?' Sanosuke asked, looking down at Algernon.
"He's just a crazy stalker, nothing important," Ume said, waving her hand. Algernon pushed Sanosuke's foot off of his head.
"That was a weak push," Sanosuke mumbled. Algernon glared at Sansouke.
"How dare you treat me like that! I'll have you know that I am Ume's fiancé!" Both Ume and Sanosuke gasped.
"Fiancé!?" they both shouted. Sansouke looked at Ume while she glared at Algernon.
"I would never agree to marry you, Algernon. What makes you think I'm your fiancé!?" Ume hissed. Algernon smiled and brushed some hair out of Ume's face.
"Ah, Ume. Don't you remember when we were children and-"
"I didn't meet you until I was 8 years old, after that, I never spoke with you," Ume said. Algernon just smiled and stroked Ume's chin. She slapped his hand away.
"Now, if you will excuse me, I must get some rest,I have things to do tomorrow and nothing makes me more tired than listening to you babble. And I decline your proposal, I'll never marry you!" Ume said, walking up the steps and into the house. Algernon glared at the door. Herve walked passed Algernon and into the house after Ume.
"Hey," Algernon said, turning to Sanosuke.
"You better stay away from Ume, if you know what's good for you," Algernon said. Sanosuke chuckled and chracked his knuckles.
"You think I'm afraid of you shorty? What makes you think you can marry Ume, anyway? What are you....12 or something?" Algernon's face went red.
"I'll have you know I'm 23 years old!" he snapped. Sanosuke just stared at him for a moment and then started laughing.
"Okay kid, whatever." he said, walking passed him and into the house.